# data[].attributes.body
In a moment of pure honesty, postmodernism makes me uncomfortable. Its vagueness, deconstruction, and fantasy with questioning something as intuitive as language is bizarre to me. I am out of not only my comfort zone-I feel like I am out of reality. In almost no other realm is this as visceral as the transition from modernity to postmodernity in art. The blatant disregard is not the culprit, as seen in Jackson Pollock's creations, nor is it the twist of the traditional as seen in Rene Magritte's or Salvador Dali's work. It is the seemingly, probably intentional perversion and exploitation of what was sacred. Postmodernity thrives off cutting up and exploding foundations, both of words and of traditional values. Furthermore, it grasps onto what once rested on pedestals and strangles it until it drips off in bits and pieces. The validity and morality of this is up for debate, but the controversy and extreme discomfort that blossoms off of that principle blossomed in art. I have yet to decide if this manifestation is a disquieting yet pivotal shift in worldviews or glorified garbage intended purely to revolt. Nevertheless, its existence remains. The following videos, some neutral, others polarized, examine the changes in art and media for both modernity and postmodernity. They are worth a watch. Warning: Some contain nudity and the Blade Runner video has a clip of man gouging another man's eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXRlGULqHxg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGRHOpMRUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNI07egoefc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmMTKdUAokM

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout Jenson's essay, he mentions quite a few authors and artists, such as Rene Magritte and Samuel Beckett. His description and diagnosis of what was going in art and how it highlighted postmodernism in different forms was comprehensive and gave a touchstone for what postmodernity was. In particular, I found myself agreeing with Jenson and thus my previous thought: surrealism is an accurate depiction of what postmodernity artistically looks like. It was interesting to see the connections this video made between not only Rene Magritte or Picasso, but Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Finding so many of the people we read in class as well as those I had stumbled across when looking for previous padlets coupled with theories discussed in class,  such as socialism, made surrealism a movement that intertwined the head figures of postmodernity with its beliefs. A small break from the nitty gritty of postmodernity and its chaos, this artistic movement, and the video that encapsulates it, is almost a breath of fresh air. While surrealist art may still be offensive or shocking, its emotion and meaning can convey the thoughts behind figures and theories in moments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtPBOwE0Qn0

# data[].attributes.body
We run into a few walls throughout this semester where a word is left either unexplained or too vague to be practical. This has happened a few times with socialism: when we read the Protestant Work Ethic, The Communist Manifesto, and today in class as we went over Hick's marriage of socialism and post-modernism. While this has been frustrating and leads to very one-sided conversations, it does have a solution. We need to learn about it so that we can debate it. Understanding economic theories goes beyond the HON 201 classroom and permeate into our understanding of today's world, both nationally and globally. Economic theories tie into the infrastructure of government, world events, and morality. Below are a few videos explaining socialism, occasionally in conjunction with capitalism. While they may try to be unbiased, it is well-known that the polarity caused by socialism is a pungent force that is hard to overthrow. In one of the videos, John Green, a best-selling author and one of the heads of CrashCourse, addresses this in a quick comment that can and should be applied to this entire course and life in general. He is making fun of his college self when he states, "He refuses to recognize the legitimacy of other peoples' narratives and that means that he will never, ever be able to have a productive conversation with another human in his entire life." It is pivotal to the efficiency and respect of intellectual discussions to acknowledge the other's views beyond merely a nod of the head. John Green's self-aware joke holds weight within the hour and fifteen minutes and beyond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBYmeLBWjeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3u4EFTwprM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XgdtHewGR0

# data[].attributes.body
C. S. Lewis was explicit and somewhat foreboding in Chapter 3 of Abolition of Man as he talked about the conquest of Nature. The exploitation of natural resources and the technology created to fight against it leads to a divide between classes and opportunities. Lewis' chapter did not end with hope, nor did our discussion. The blatant spoiling of Nature through absuing her natural resources for gain should leave one feeling troubled and anxious. However, it should not be the last stop. Striving to do better is the next step. Below are a few videos from Vox, the channel we mentioned in class. They're about climate change, waste, and how we can look at nature and use it to better the world. The last video is the one that popped up in class. They're inspring, and they are the push needed after an acknowledgement of a problem towards a solution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxKfpt70rLI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RlxySFrkIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMtXqTmfta0

# data[].attributes.body
While we've discussed theology and philosophy under the weight of postmodernity, I find the shifts that it has caused in art, literature, and movies to be clear and concrete touchstones that say, "This is what could happen. This could be the reality. This could be all there is." The Truman Show, released in 1998, is one such touchstone. Truman, a well-meaning civilian, has his world almost literally turned upside down as he releases that his life wasn't real. It was a show, and the people around him were actors. The viewer finds themselves cheering as he hunts for "truth" and reality, eventually finding it in a small black door. From the concept behind the movie to the characters and their lines, The Truman Show, standing on a foundation of postmodernist thought, is an hour and 43 minutes of "What if?" The following video, while focusing on politics, beautifully illustrates the postmodern themes in The Truman Show, and further clarifies this hazy, haunting ideology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLJAXu5OD-c&list=PLwg4AG1KkgLwP5FuUIiVEy-ILMD23AN1v

# data[].attributes.body
When I first read Waiting for Godot in high school, it absolutely wrecked me. An absurdist play that illustrates both modernity and postmodernity, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is about two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who just wait. They keep waiting. They wait for two acts and nothing happens. Even though the reader is fully aware of this perpetual pause going into the play, the finale is as crushing and defeating as waking up to no Christmas presents. The attached article is from the Canadian Center of Science and Education, and while slightly long, it elaborates on what modernity and postmodernity are and how Waiting for Godot treats both ideologies. It provides an interesting critique of modernity and postmodernity while making the contents of Beckett's masterpiece more poignant than before. Waiting for Godot is a painful and magnificent narrative that intertwines absurdity, nihilism, existentialism, modernity, and postmodernity in an emotional tapestry, and I could not recommend it more.
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ells/article/view/10719/7540

# data[].attributes.body
It is a challenging, almost insurmountable task to remove religion from society and hold a microscope to the aftermath. Religion is engrained with the foundations of world history in general, but America stands out as a society steeped with connotations and presuppositions of divinity. While it was touched on in class, the objection and thought-experiment of a world without religiously founded morality is often lobbed from a Christian catapult into existentialism, nihilism, and subjectivity. One of the forerunning counters against a subjective, free from a God playbook world is summarized as follows: “If there is no God, how can you judge one society compared to another? How do you find out what is right and wrong without it being created by something higher than ourselves?” This article, written by primatologist Frans de Waal, seeks to explain a secular answer to those questions. While I do not agree with everything Dr. de Waal says, I find his argument informative and intriguing for those interested in researching an areligious morality.

https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/morals-without-god/

# data[].attributes.body
Post-modernism, even after Tuesday's helpful and enlightening lecture, is still a nebulous behemoth that seems to relish in its ambiguity. From being a semantical word game to deconstructing its own environment, post-modernism is confusing and honestly seems to be a continual contradiction. Simultaneously a personification of and vessel for post-modernism, Rene Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" is a tangible touchstone for post-modernism's vague definition. A simple painted pipe with the phrase, "This is not a pipe," inscribed underneath, Magritte's painting intertwines the prominent themes of deconstructing familiar concepts with the importance of semantics so often found in post-modern writings. This six and a half minute video gives a beautiful and well-done capsulation of "The Treachery of Images", and even mentions Michel Foucualt. Hopefully, as the semester continues and our knowledge of post-modernism grows, this painting continues to either exemplify what post-modernism strives for or I am proved wrong and learn from my mistakes. Either way, the linkage between "The Treachery of Images" and post-modernism is a worthwhile thought experiment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atHQpANmHCE

# data[].attributes.body
As we reviewed over the first half of the semester for the midterm, we had a midterm study guide that contained an interesting, important question about how Freud's own familial experiences led to his critique of religion. While it did not end up on the test, it does remind us of a critical aspect of learning-understanding where the author is coming from and what influenced them. Due to the initial abnormality of his psychosexual theory of human development, Sigmund Freud's own background demands understanding. His own family is so integral to who he was that Wikipedia has an entire article dedicated to 'Freud's Family'. The few links below include a couple articles and a video about Freud's own life, some focusing purely on childhood and others covering his life's entirety with a bit of his psychology dabbled in. Even though the midterm has passed, gaining a greater appreciation for the influences that Freud's childhood had on his theories is necessary so that we can understand and give him grace.
http://www.pbs.org/youngdrfreud/pages/family_childhood.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQaqXK7z9LM
http://www.freudfile.org/childhood.html

# data[].attributes.body
Podcast on Christians selling their possessions: https://www.thebereancall.org/content/should-christians-sell-all-their-possessions
Is The Bible's God a Communist? From World Union of Deists: http://www.deism.com/communismbible.htm
Tekton Apologetics: http://www.tektonics.org/af/commie.php
From Patheos:, The Wall O' Socialist Bible Quotes: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/2011/08/the-wall-o-socialist-bible-quotes/
There are a few links posted for this padlet. They are different facets through which we can view  the relationship of Communism and the Church. Offering both sides of the story, the link are written from those standing on a Biblical foundation and others who are self-proclaimed skeptics and unbelievers. Having both sides of anything in mind is crucial to a well-balanced debate in general, but these articles pertain particularly to the questions we have about Karl Marx and communism in the upcoming week. They also harken back to the conversation in class on Thursday about Jesus' teaching and subtle economic ideology.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jun/17/features.review
It was briefly touched on in class earlier this week: Freud was, in a way, pleasantly surprising. His writing was not littered with "phallic" and "anal" stages, it was logically coherent, and brilliantly written. Sigmund Freud, an often ballooned caricature in our minds, was more genius that pervert. This article explores another facet of Sigmund Freud that certainly does not come to mind when his name is mentioned-his influence on cinema. Through the physical setting of a film festival dedicated to the subconscious and psychoanalysis on the big screen, Freud's impact on entertainment is elaborated on. Besides being intriguing and shining a light on Sigmund's monumental sway over the world, the article encompasses some interesting tidbits about those who worked on and with Freud's theory of psychoanalysis. Salvador Dali created a dream sequence specifically tailored to psychoanalysis  for Alfred Hitchcock. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote a movie script for Freud: The Secret Passion. Once again, this goes to show Freud's incredible depth of importance and leverage.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/why-animal-rights/
In class, Darwin's comparison of humans to domestic breeding stock and his general worldview were discussed, and the difference between man and animal was dissected. The distinction between man and beast fell into two categories: the unfalsifiable claim of divine command, and the superior intellectual faculties exhibited by mankind. This article, published by PETA, delves into the foundation that animal rights stand upon. Pulling from moral philosopher Peter Singer and reformed utilitarian Jeremy Bentham, the article erases the intellectual line between man and animal and replaces it with a door: our mutual capacity to suffer. Like man, animals can have varying qualities of life, but furthermore can experience remorse, depression, suffering and pain. This refined definition stands in opposition to the one decided upon by the class, shining a light on a different perspective on the division between mankind and the other animals that make up the animal kingdom.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-physics-free-will/
From a secular, scientific standpoint, George Musser explores the world of free will and determinism and its link to quantum physics. While a bit vague and confusing if you don't have a physics degree, Musser post links to his references and the works of other philosophers or scientists in this realm. He explains themes and discoveries in the domain of whether or not the world is on a set course or spinning with whim. We can further address Kierkegaard and Sartre with through a non-philosophical, practical lens: With science in mind, are we actually free to act? Do we have the freedom to chose? Are we free in the first place?